Of Dates, Drama, and Dilemma’s
by Artemis Hunt
Summary: THIRD IN THE OF ALLITERATIONS SERIES. Lily has finally agreed to go on a date with James Potter, after all with the end of their time at Hogwarts looming closer what does she have to lose? But what will she discover she’s gained by the end of the night?


**Thank-you sooo much to my reviewers! Cocokabana, Queen of Duct Tape, kelly jelly bean, that redheaded friend of yours, Anon (I realize that isn't a name but I still give credit to them…), believeinmagic14, Truth in the Moon, sorrybut, biobuddy dude 4L, and marauders rox, you guys make my day! If anyone else would like to make my day…REVIEW!!! Thanks!**

**CAUTION! DO NOT READ UNTIL READING A/N BELOW!!!!!**

**PLEASE NOTE: This is the third in the Of Alliterations series…if you have not read Of Snow, Snowshoeing, and Snogging and its sequel Of Tests, Tricks, and Turning Points…then DO NOT READ THIS (yet)!! Thank-you and enjoy!**

**Of Dates, Drama, and Dilemma's**

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The Head Girl's bedroom at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry is usually a very organized place, as are its inhabitants. However at the moment it was the battle ground between Lily Evans and her closet, and she was very frustrated to admit that she was losing.

_Why is this so hard!? _Lily thought bitterly, flopping down onto her bed. _This is Potter we're talking about…not some guy I actually like. This date is a favor, it doesn't matter what I wear!_

But as much as Lily told herself that, she still had the unusual urge to look special for their date.

Sighing she returned to her closet, and what few clothes were left in it.

" No…nothing purple, I don't even know why my mother gave me this!" Lily muttered throwing the shirt into her growing pile of garments, " Maybe I should start with pants…or a skirt. I don't know!" She finally admitted to herself that she needed back up.

" Alice!" Lily called into the common room from her door. Returning to her bed in defeat she waited for her style savvy friend to save her.

" Yes my dear?" Alice asked innocently, with a twinkle in her eye.

Lily groaned and consented, " I need help! I can't find anything to wear…"

Laughing Alice walked over to her pile of clothes and began to methodically search through them while putting them back in the closet.

" Well first, what are we looking for?" Alice asked, looking over at the tired girl. When Lily shrugged her indifference Alice began pelting her with questions.

" Hot or cute? Winter or Autumn? Comfy or stylish? Dressy or casual?" Lily sighed, knowing that this was only the first round of questions.

" In between, don't care, both, causual-ish" Alice frowned.

" Lily Evans, that is the most vague answer I've ever gotten!" Lily groaned again and rolled over so that she was sitting on her elbows facing her savior and personal devil.

" I want to look nice, but I want to be comfy, and stylish and color doesn't matter as long as it looks nice…is that better?" Lily asked, getting up to help Alice sift through the mess of Lily's floor.

Alice merely hmmed, far to distracted by the clothes in her hands to give a real answer.

Five minutes later Lily had put back her entire wardrobe and Alice was finally satisfied with her choice.

" Taa dah!" She exclaimed whirling around to show Lily.

As much as she hated to admit it, Alice was always right with clothes. She had picked out a V-neck black top that sexy while not trying too hard paired with a pair of red pants that Lily didn't even know she had.

Feeling the material, Lily said, " Alice you are a clothes Goddess…How can you even think of things like this." She shook her head and continued with a bit of sarcasm, " I am in awe of your talents, let me bow down!" And she did just that, making Alice laugh again.

" Foolish human…you should never challenge the Style Goddess, however I do dub thee the Make-up Goddess." Alice said ceremoniously. Lily rose, looking very serious.

" But of course my dear, and now we are equal in our Goddess stature!" Looking at the clock Lily added more seriously, " But this Goddess is going to be late if I don't change now! Thanks so much for helping." Alice nodded and started towards the door. But she paused and leaned up against the door watching Lily scoot around, starting to get ready.

Lily pretended she didn't hear Alice mutter, " She'd better be careful…I'd almost think she was falling for him and that might end badly…" However the comment stayed with her.

_What if other people think that? _She wondered while brushing her hair. _Its not like James is a bad guy but still…he is a ladies man and I doubt he'd be a very good boyfriend._

Lily pushed all intrusive thoughts from her mind and concentrated on visualizing having a good time when she was on her sort-of date.

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Lily scanned the crowd waiting to leave for Hogsmead, but she couldn't see James anywhere.

_At least I can be sure that he isn't going to ditch me… _Lily thought lazily, sitting down on the grass to wait.

Laying back she closed her eyes for a moment, enjoying the sunlight that came along with the newfound spring.

When Lily opened her eyes, she could see someone lying next to her.

" James." She said with surprise as she sat up. She couldn't remember him sitting down.

" Decided to join the conscious world have we?" James asked playfully, rolling over to face her while propping himself up on his elbow.

Confused, Lily looked around to see that there were no more crowds of students anxious to go to Hogshead.

She blushed while asking, " I feel asleep didn't I?" James nodded very seriously.

" This is a major infraction of the law, Miss Evans." He intoned, " We will have to speak to the headmaster later." Lily blushed even deeper and looked away.

" Aww come on Lils, I was just kidding." James said brushing hair from her eyes, " I would have woken you…but I was a bit tired from planning our date and you looked very peaceful."

James got up and pulled Lily to her feet.

" For the lady." He said very seriously while putting a single lily, what else, behind her ear.

Lily smiled, and blushed for a different reason before laughing and shouting, " Come on then, we're late as it is!" Before racing off towards Hogsmead with James sprinting to catch up.

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When Lily and James finally arrived at Hogsmead, it seemed that James had if fact planned quite the trip for the two of them.

They first went into the Three Broomsticks to get a butter beer to refresh themselves after their race, which Lily won much to James' embarrassment. However this portion of the trip took longer then expected because it seemed that all of Hogwarts needed to come and see the miracle date for themselves.

Lily was afraid that there was going to be a problem with James' fan club, however when they arrived Sirius slid over smoothly to " Buy the lovely ladies a drink?" and distract any drama they were trying to bring upon Lily.

James then brought her to the owlery and made her wait while he got a very suspicious package.

He claimed it had nothing to do with any upcoming pranks, and despite her valiant attempts to see what was in it, "Oy! You can't steal people's stuff Lily! Geroff!" she found herself still in the dark about its contents.

The pair made their way through Hogsmead, simply strolling and eating their Never Melt Ice cream from Honeydukes.

Lily found that she was enjoying herself immensely. They hadn't done anything out of the ordinary, that is ordinary for a date, but James was so easy to talk to, or not saying anything at all.

_It's never awkward with him. _Lily reflected during one of their silent periods.

However when Lily looked over at her companion it was clear that he was having an internal battle.

Before she could question his strange habits, he 'subtly' reached over and took her hand in his.

Breathing a laugh, Lily made no move to remove her hand. She actually enjoyed it a bit. But it seemed that the internal battle had spread over to her through his hand.

_It doesn't mean anything if I like holding his hand. _She thought profusely. _We're on a date…it just comes with the territory. Plus this is a **favor** date, so this is all temporary._

But if fact Lily had been having quite a few of these battles with herself lately. Whether it was over why it no longer bothered her when he messed up his hair, or how more of his jokes seemed actually funny.

She wasn't so adverse to giving him a chance…in fact James had been so well mannered and had finally stopped teasing people who didn't deserve it.

_At least in front of me…_She consented. After all, Snape did deserve a hex or two for all the things he did. However she would never admit that she had sent a few Trip Jinxes his way over the years.

Overall, Lily thought that James was quite a nice guy. It wasn't that he had changed, but that she had finally admitted that there were other sides to the infamous James Potter, and not all of them reflected the boy she thought she knew. Especially because of the way he seemed to understand her completely, from her pet peeves to her likes to her favorite color or music. Granted he had almost stalked her for about 6 years…

But the main reason she was so hesitant was all the people around her. Everyone was used to Lily hating James, and James _still_ chasing after her despite it all. How would they react if they became more then friends…there had already been quite a reaction when they had declared a truce and became what they were now.

_And what even is that? _She thought looking over at James, silently contemplating him.

However her stealthy evaluation was cut short as James announced their next activity.

" Let's go back to the castle." He said, pulling her towards the path that would lead them there.

Surprised, Lily followed but couldn't help but ask, " You know…for needing a nap after planning this, I was expecting you had prepared something big."

Immediately Lily regretted saying it. She'd had a lovely time and didn't want him to think otherwise.

But as she opened her mouth to tell him so, James laughed and said, " That was the pre-show…we're going to the main event now."

Smiling, Lily followed him willingly, the pair chatting as they made their way towards the castle in the distance.

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" Really James, this is getting quite silly." Lily exclaimed exasperatedly.

When they reached the castle he had insisted that she wear a blindfold while he took her to their secret date.

" Just a bit further." James said mysteriously, still holding her hand although there it was more necessary now.

Lily sighed and resumed concentrating on not falling, which was proving rather difficult.

Suddenly, James slipped his hand out of hers and Lily was left with no idea of where he went.

" James Potter! This is NOT funny!" Lily shouted, hoping they were near humanity and someone would come remove this blindfold. Lily had never been afraid of the dark…but she was afraid of being out of control of her surroundings. For example when she couldn't see where she was and no one was nearby...

Reaching behind her head Lily fumbled with the knot. For some reason her hand always slipped off when she tried to undo the blindfold.

" Lily…don't try to take it off. I've spelled it." James called out from somewhere nearby. Turning Lily tried to locate the voice so she could kill it.

" Trust me, just take three steps forward." Lily hesitated. As much as she wanted to trust James at the moment, he was rather found of pranks and had dragged her on a precarious hike with a blindfold handicap.

Cautiously Lily stepped forward. As she reached her directed spot, the blindfold fell off.

Squinting around, Lily was frustrated to discover that she still couldn't see because it was so dark.

" Now clap once." James' voice said, close to her ear, although as she reached out to find his face, her hand fell through thin air.

Lily sighed and humored the partially insane boy, clapping loudly once.

The instantaneous result made Lily gasp in surprise and awe.

She was surrounded by white fairy lights that were shaped like a gazebo, however she could not see any structure near by.

A gentle breeze blew through the magical setting, turning her attention to a table to her right.

It was simply decorated with a plain white tablecloth and two straight-backed chairs. As she ran she fingers around the edge of the table, Lily remembered that James had not appeared yet.

And seemingly on that que, quiet music started playing in the background, and someone whispered, " Care to dance?" quietly in her ear.

As Lily spun around, she saw James standing behind her with a small smile and a bouquet of roses.

Lily felt herself well up a bit at the amount of thought James had put into this, and spontaneously threw her arms around him and said, " This is amazing."

" You're worth it." James said seriously, looking at her eyes. Lily blushed, not knowing what to say.

Laughing a bit, James set the flowers down and pulled Lily into a dip.

" I wasn't kidding about the dancing… for a guy, I'm pretty good." He said with mock egotism.

Lily laughed, and challenged, " Is that so Mr. Potter? Well I do believe it is a known fact that women can dance better then men…"

James chuckled, pulling Lily up and beginning to waltz.

It was strange how content Lily felt now, not caring about anything other then the night, her favorite song playing, and why James' cologne smelled so good.

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Sitting back in his chair James sighed and said, " I'm full…the house elves went crazy when I told them they could make whatever they wanted for the picnic."

" Well they certainly outdid themselves." Lily laughed.

Leaning forward, she put her head on her hands and looked at her dinner partner.

" I still have a few questions about tonight…" Lily inquired innocently.

James raised his eyebrow comically and replied, " Is that so?"

" Mhmm." Lily responded, leaning back in her chair with her wineglass in hand.

" For one…how did you get this Muggle wine when we're underage."

" Padfoot." James said simply, running his hand through his hair, " I try not to know the details, but he said you might like it." Lily smiled and stared off into the distance for a moment. It had turned out that their rendezvous point was their secret winter spot. It looked so different without the snowcapped mountains, but just as beautiful.

" I'm assuming all the lights and such were magic?" Lily asked next, taking a sip of the wine. It turned out Sirius was right, she was enjoying it.

" Of course…though the Claire de Lune music was hard to spell." James asked while laughing. Lily laughed along with him, while trying to find a way to ask what she was most curious about.

After a moment, Lily was ready to burst and blurted out, " What was in that package?" only to have James respond by laughing harder.

Scowling, Lily waited, knowing that he would tell her eventually like he always did.

" Do you really want to know?" James asked, leaning towards her while she unconsciously did the same. His eyes twinkled with mischief, however there was also a layer of seriousness that caused her to pause before flipping her hair dramatically and replying, " Of course! I've been trying to figure it out all afternoon!"

James quietly rose to his feet and removed it from the picnic basket at the side of the hill.

He brought back the package and slid his chair close to Lily before handing her the mystery and saying simply, " Open it."

Lily looked up, surprised that he would reveal his secret so quickly.

Carefully she slid her fingers under the edge of the thick brown paper and undid the seal. Lily shook out what appeared to be a slat of wood.

Perplexed, she looked over at James who has trying to conceal his laugher.

"What is it?" Lily asked, annoyed by his lack of an explanation.

" Flip it over…" He said, still chuckling.

Slowly Lily flipped the slate over and found herself looking at the finished version of the charcoal drawing she had seen in his notebook. Though now it was encased in a beautiful cherry wood frame.

" James…it's wonderful." Lily exclaimed, outlining the mountains that were just off in the real distance and on the picture with her finder.

" I'm beginning to love my No Smudge Magic Charcoal…but you were a hard subject." James stated lying back in his chair to observe her face, perhaps for another picture, " First of all I couldn't ask you to sit for a portrait, and it was hard to capture your personality." Lily nodded absent mindedly, still absorbed in the drawing.

" Do you like it? I made it as a present for you." James asked hesitantly. Lily looked up quickly, staring into his chocolate eyes.

" James, it's the most beautiful thing I've ever seen…" Lily said sincerely, " Thank-you so much!"

James smiled and leaned forward, brushing a piece of hair from her face.

" I've seen something more beautiful."

Lily's heart skipped a beat from their proximity. She was overwhelmed by this gift and now his smell. Inhaling deeply Lily reflected that she had known for a while that in the back of her mind that she had been getting feelings for James, but she never wanted to admit it because it would force her out of her normal settings.

Lily had had boyfriends before (often not for long because of some well placed pranks) but they were all just fun, not very emotional.

Sitting here, when it was so easy to lean forward and let him kiss her, Lily found herself short of breath.

"Lily?" James asked, stroking her face until he was cupping her chin.

Lily's mind raced, she had never been good at fast decisions.

_But then again…has it been a quick decision? _She thought. _I knew something might happened on our date, but I still came… He's been so amazing to me. And I can't seem to spend enough time with him. Doesn't that mean I might want this?_

Lily ignored James' question, and yet answered it all the same when she leaned closer and let him know that she wanted this too, for the first time accepting that she might have been blind to someone amazing.

James' lips were soft as they met hers', as though he was also rather hesitant. The kiss was soft, not at all what Lily had expected, but immeasurably better. All too quickly it ended and he pulled back, looking into her eyes again as she was swept away by the moment.

" Lily, what does this…" James began, but Lily silenced him with another, more impassioned kiss, which he returned without complaint.

" Yes." Lily whispered softly, leaning her forehead against his. Smiling, James pulled her onto his lap, just holding her there quietly as they both enjoyed the moment.

James never admitted to it, but Lily always knew that some Marauder was responsible for the snowstorm of fireflies that began swirling around them as the music began to play Claire de Lune again and James held her, not speaking, simply enjoying the moment with her.

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**If anyone can tell me what the Twilight reference is I will give you a cookie! AND if you review…YOU GET A COOKIE TOO!! Pretty please?**


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